Redeemer Lutheran donates quilts to Washington survivors

Bill and Judy Kreeger from Washington, Ill., pick up quilts from Redeemer Lutheran Church, LCMS, in Peru to give people comfort who have been displaced from the homes because of the Nov. 17 tornado.

PERU — On Dec. 7, Bill and Judy Kreeger from Washington, Ill., stopped by Redeemer Lutheran Church, LCMS, in Peru to pick up some quilts to give a little comfort to people who either lost their home completely or have to live elsewhere while their homes are rebuilt because of the Nov. 17 tornado that devastated so many homes in the Washington area.

Judy is the secretary of Our Savior Lutheran Church, LCMS, in Washington. Our Savior had almost $1 million worth of damage to the church and parsonage. All of the cars in the parking lot as the Sunday service was underway when the tornado struck were blown away. The pastor has to live elsewhere until the parsonage can be repaired. His Bible was blown away and he hasn't found it. There were 300 volunteers at the church on Dec. 7 to help in the clean-up efforts and to start to rebuild. They are all overwhelmed at the enormous support that is coming their way but obviously traumatized by the experience they witnessed.

The Kreeger daughter's family was in the basement of their home in Washington and were safe, but when they came upstairs afterwards, their home was totally gone and also their two vehicles were blown away. Their son-in-law is a volunteer fireman so when he came out of the basement and got his family to a safe place, he went to help put out fires. While the Kreeger home had damage, they moved their daughter's family of five in to live with them until the daughter's home can be rebuilt.